[Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor in the peritoneal fluid and eutopic endometrium of patients with endometriosis].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the significance of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) on the etiology of endometriosis. METHODS: The level of VEGF in the peritoneal fluid from women with endometriosis (n = 19) and non-endometriosis (n = 21) was studied by ELISA. The expression of VEGF of eutopic endometrium collected from women with endometriosis (n = 15) and non-endometriosis (n = 12) was determined by relative quantity RT-PCR. RESULTS: The level of VEGF in the peritoneal fluid in the endometriosis was higher than that of the controls (P < 0.05). Cyclic variation in VEGF concentration was seen in the peritoneal fluid from patients with endometriosis, and the VEGF concentration in the proliferative phase was significantly higher than that in the secretory phase (P 0.05). The expression of VEGF in the eutopic endometrium with endometriosis was significantly higher than that of the controls (P 0.05). CONCLUSION: The increase of VEGF in the peritoneal fluid and eutopic endometrium with endometriosis may be important to the occurrence and development of endometriosis.